The Goo 1
Reviews Albums SELK - Shed The Skin In the interi
m between 2016’s divine ‘Beast’ and the heady, beautiful record we find ourselves with today, Anna Jordan has been busy, collaborating with esteemed soundtrack composer Javier Navarrete, adding members to the live band and developing her Ukelele chops. Wait, don't worry, this isn’t ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. The delicate, jazz inflected ‘Seconds’ introduces itself by way of a gorgeous fingerpicked uke and a lovely, lovely voice, slowly blossoming with harmonies, serene strings (provided by Kate Ellis and Cora Venus Lunny of the mighty Crash Ensemble) and carefully considered instrumentation. Whilst they are often tagged with the Alt-Folk label, I feel this does little justice to the unusual arrangements and sublime instrumentation SELK has achieved through Anna's careful composition, and her work with the incredible Judith Ring who arranged strings for the record has served her well. Whilst ‘Beast’ brought to mind French wildcard Camille, the first comparisons I can draw for ‘Shed The Skin’ would be Linda Perhacs. The ethereal, layered vocal harmonies, as well as the harmonic qualities of Jordans voice find a welcome home with Dennis Cassidys left field percussive flourishes, whilst the contributions PAGE 12 of her new band mates gel with a surety that belies their relatively recent conscription to the project. Personal highlight, ‘Pure’ ebbs and flows subtly, a water sprite dancing above a pool against the caustics of a low lit cave. The variety and beauty of ‘Shed the Skin’ cannot be understated. Deftly original, winsome and thoughtful music. AOC JaYne - Pass The Test As debut album’s go, “Pass The Test” is sure to put JaYne on the map. Having experimented with many musical styles in the past, JaYne brings us a jazz / soul inspired sound with this album. Opening track “Pass The Test” is a plucky start, overlayed by JaYne’s breathy, ethereal voice. Folksy, dreamy, full of quirky stops & starts it sets the tone for the album. “Escape” is peppy & bright, skipping along on a jazzy beat, all words & ideas, about city life, about getting away. Crashing & banging drums roll along side breezy vocals & sleepy guitars. This juxtaposition is somehow as soothing as it is jarring. “One Man Show” showcases JaYne’s sound, ghostly & grand, with gorgeous echoes bringing us right to the heart of the song. Melodic “oooh-woohs” float on top as JaYne sings high & low. The feeling is neo-VictoriADHAMH O CAOIMH / LORNA BROWN / ALAN MONNELLY / NIALL MCGUIRK / DAVID CARR / ETHAN GOULDING / ANDREW LAMBERT / SHAR DULLAGHAN an , a voice like fine lace, yet with a freshness owing to JaYne’s vocal style. “Circles” is a song to get lost in. Slow & steady, it features those delicious hazy vibes that JaYne is all about, finishing out on a lovely rattle. “Charlie” is bigger & bolder, talk of Saturday night & regrets “his spirit & my soul” we are drawn in by a big sound here. A soaring track that totally captures the essence of JaYne. The ability to mix moods, sweet & sour, soft & harsh makes “Pass The Test” an album of many faces, and fused with feeling. Title track “Pass The Test” is never afraid to go to places deep & dark, delving into JaYne’s past & inside herself. “Rediscover” lingers along, a sort of Stevie Nicks steely strength coming through between the twinkling chords. JaYne delivers on “Pass The Test”. She shines, she shimmies, she feels, she tells. A total gem of a debut album. LB Colin Stetson - What We Were That Wept For The Sea The savagely prolific Michiganian Colin Stetson has unbridled his staggeringly prodigious talents on listeners once more, lucky mud that we are. Composed in the aftermath of the sudden, unexpected death of the saxophonist's father, this urgent, mournful collection is perhaps more spontaneous than we have heard from the organised, meticulous Stetson, his creative process interrupted by grief. It is no less for it though, the man's singular synchronicity with his instrument here yielding us a journey of reminiscence, a meditation on mortality, familial sorrow and perhaps, that unwelcome acceptance that marks the first steps of healing. The music throughout is seamed with that unnamable thread of feeling only familiar to the bereaved, but it is never bleak. Melancholy, but never morose.There are moments of Celticisms here and there, both in timbre and texture of the instrumentation, particularly amongst the 'Lighthouse' suite of songs. Our own inimitable Iarla Ó Lionaird lends his honeyed vocal to the third of the pieces and a poem to the fifth, whilst celebrated Scottish experimentalist Brighde Chaimbuel adds her unique approach to the Scottish Smallpipes to the second. Elsewhere, Stetsons trademarks are all here; impossible circular-breath saxophone rolls, tense sustained chords, beds of chaos unfurling and resolving to cottony consonance, that otherworldly pulse that he has woven throughout his storied career, harsh squalls of horns rising from the slithering murk he commands so effortless, tempered by moments of space, breath, and grace. A beautiful, sombre tribute to the senior Stetson. AOC